What A Day
by ZemerGuri
Summary: Post 3x17 Countdown. "I'm drinking some wine on my balcony, and about to have a pleasant conversation with my old pal, Mary Jane."


[What a Day]

The adrenaline from the day had slowly winded down, leaving Castle drained of all energy. He sent Alexis and his mother to a nice restaurant in celebration of what happened, telling them he will get some rest instead of joining them.

He took a blanket off his bed and wrapped himself with it as he took his tin container from the back of the drawer in his desk. He grabbed his glass of wine in his other hand and made his way to the balcony right outside his office. It is a wonder why he never sits out here often. The breeze is perfect and the city is surprisingly calm at this time of night.

He saved a city today. With all the chaos that happened, he had no time to actually soak it in for himself. There were those two hours that he drank a beer with everyone, listening to Kate speak of his actions with such pride in her voice. It left him breathless more than once. It occurred to him that she developed a new respect for him during this case.

Their time in the freezer was something he would never forget, especially not now with the chill he still feels in his bones. Huddling with her ignited that spark further within him that he wanted to keep her close, always. Even with the threat of their imminent death, he found himself comfortable with her in his arms.

He took the lighter out of the container and filled the glass pipe with the pre-crushed bud he keeps on hand. Once he was satisfied with the packing, he covered the hole with his finger and was about to light it when his phone started to ring.

Sighing, he placed everything on the little table in front of him and answered his phone.

"Castle."

"Hey," came her soft voice.

He leaned further back in his chair, closing his eyes.

"How are you," she added, once he did not say anything to her.

"To be honest, I've been better. How are you?"

"I've been better."

They stopped talking, not knowing what to say to each other. Castle was at a loss with why she would be calling in the first place. He left her in the arms of her precious doctor that always showed up at the most inopportune moments.

"Why did you leave so suddenly today?" He could tell her voice had a false confidence in it. She wanted to know, but was afraid of the answer.

"I left because I can take a hint, Kate. There was no need for me to stick around when you have someone who will be there for you." As much as it pains him to admit, the doctor just kept showing up. Who was he to stand in the way now?

"You're always there for me," she whispered, "you don't have to bow out when you think you need to."

He remained silent, unsure of what to say.

"What are you doing?" she asked.

"To be honest, I'm drinking some wine on my balcony, and about to have a pleasant conversation with my old pal, Mary Jane."

Castle heard her cough once he finished and laughed at how comical she might have looked in that moment.

"Where is Alexis and Martha?" she said, once composed.

"Out." He took a generous sip of his wine. "Where is Motorcycle Boy? Shouldn't you two be off celebrating together?" He scoffed inwardly.

"Josh was called in for an emergency."

"Bummer."

"Do you…" she paused for a few seconds, "Can I come over?"

That he was not expecting.

"Of course you can. Did you have dinner? I can order something while you make your way over." He was about to get up to look for menus when he heard her saying she already ate.

"I just want some company tonight if you don't mind. I'll be there in fifteen minutes."

* * *

Beckett let herself in when she saw the door was unlocked. Silly man. No matter how many times she tells him, he always leaves it unlocked for her to enter whenever he expects her to come over.

She unzipped her boots and was looking around the loft, noticing that it was still very warm. Her body had mostly adjusted back to a normal temperature, but the chill still creeps on her at times.

"I'm out here!" she hears Castle yelling from his office.

"How many times do I have to tell you not to leave your door unlocked," she called back, walking through his office to the open door leading to his balcony.

She never went on his balcony before. There were a few plants in each corner and a small wooden table with two glasses of red wine. Castle was blowing out a puff of smoke, followed by a deep cough.

"You're not going to arrest me, are you?" he said after another great cough.

She took a seat next to him on the lounge chair that was wide enough for two.

"I'm off duty. And I also am not in the mood to arrest myself either," she said as she took the offered glass pipe and lighter.

He watched her put her lips to the pipe, and imagined how soft they were in that moment. All the ways he has seen those lips, smiling, laughing, yelling, frowning, licking the juice from a strawberry… he shook his head. Castle was definitely feeling his high.

"I didn't know you smoked." She passed the pipe back to him, letting out a few coughs of her own.

Before he answered, he put his feet up on the table in front of him, watched her do the same, and offered to share some of his blanket.

"I don't often. It's a little hard to get the loft to myself sometimes, but when I do I like to just sit back and relax. I think after the day we had, it was called for," he chuckled to himself, "What about you?"

Kate sipped her own wine, "Same. It doesn't feel as good when you're alone though."

"To think we could've had an even more special bond all this time." He lit the pipe once more, inhaled, and held it for a few seconds before he blew it out. He passed it to her and watched her lips once more.

They stayed quiet for a few minutes when Castle noticed her inch herself closer to him. He was just about to wrap one arm around her when his phone pinged, telling him he received a text from Alexis.

 _We decided to go to a movie when we finish dinner. Don't wait up for us!_

"Looks like we will have more time to ourselves. Alexis and Mother are going to be awhile before they get back." Castle said as he placed his phone far away from them. He heard a content sigh from Kate in a quiet affirmation.

* * *

He has never seen her like this before.

"You are acting like a cliché, Kate," He says, laughing at her giggles.

"But Castle, don't you see? Just look at this blanket. I look like a bean burrito right now."

Kate managed to twist around in the blanket while they were sitting, and ended up tangled in it. Castle took another gulp of his wine and tried to untangle her, but ended up falling over her, laughing even harder.

They had both drank a whole bottle of wine, and were on their way to finishing the second. Castle was on his best behavior, but now he was finding it hard to keep his hands off her. He kept brushing her arm, or locking arms. Now, it was proving difficult since Kate was covered completely by the blanket.

"Okay, what if we just…" Castle's sentence trailed off as he tried sitting back and pulling the blanket off of her, which ended up bringing it, along with Kate, into his lap. They could not stop laughing at this point.

Kate was the first to calm down and let herself fall into him even more. They were both laying on the lounge chair, Castle sitting awkwardly with one leg up and the other on the ground, while Kate was laying with her body half on him and half falling off. He did his best to reposition her so they were both lying down, her head resting on his shoulder.

"This is the most fun I've had in a while." Kate said, letting out of breath of relief or tiredness, he could not tell. Castle hugged her closer, and rested his head on hers.

"I was really scared in the freezer," he confessed. "I didn't want that to be our last moment together."

"What do you want our last moment to be together?" She closed her eyes.

He was silent for a few minutes. There were so many things he wanted for the both of them. No way could he think about a last anything for them.

"I don't know about the last moment, but the in between I want us to be at a beach. I want us to be in bed. I want us to be holding hands. I want us to have dinner on my couch, watching really bad reality TV, and lying down together like this. I can't imagine having a last anything with you." _I just want you_.

Kate turned her head so she was now facing him. Somehow she managed to sneak a hand out of the blanket and ran it through the hairs above his ear, to the back of his neck.

"But I can't have any of that with you, because someone else is. I can't have any of that with you because you did not choose me."

She did not realize a small tear escaped until he was wiping it away.

"I should probably clean up, get everything back in order."

"Don't get up." She looked at him with tenderness he could only hope to be akin to love. "Please. Let's just stay here a little longer."

He wouldn't deny her that. They were having such a great time together being buzzed from the wine. Kate told him random stories from when she was at her father's cabin as a kid, and all the mayhem she caused. Castle called her a little terror, and was basking in the play wrestling that erupted out of her. He did not want to move for as long as she was in his arms. Moments like these do not come often and this was just another thing he wanted to soak in – Kate in his arms, hair down from the messy ponytail she had earlier, warm and cuddly. He wouldn't trade this for anything.

He felt her drawing something on his chest with her fingers, and loved the hypnotizing feel of it. His eyes were starting to get heavy when he felt her stop.

"Why did you stop?"

Kate did not say anything until he nudged her shoulder.

"I want everything you said. I want everything you said to come true and I want us to have that and more." She lifted her head and was looking directly at him. The alcohol in their systems did not let them think twice.

Kate met his mouth halfway and their lips met softly, and tenderly. Castle was watching these lips all night and he was determined to show them a good time.

They separated before it started to heat up.

"We can't. As much as I want to, we can't."

"I know," Kate whispered, "soon."

Castle kissed her one more time and relaxed back into the lounge chair, with her head back on his shoulder.

What a day.

* * *

A/N: Hopefully this wasn't too rusty and you all somewhat enjoyed it! It has been a very long time since I wrote something. There was always a glass door in his office that was never talked about so I thought why not throw it in there. Let me know what you think!


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